From The Revolutionary War To The Bullshit War On Terror, Illinois Troops Have Been There
Normally I wouldn’t retweet (earnestly) anything from the governor’s account, especially in an election year, but the campaign is over, he lost, and I actually found the series of tweets emanating from his office Sunday quite interesting. Given the circumstances, with no cynical political gain to be leveraged, the benefit accrues to the reader. So here goes.
During the Revolutionary War, men from the prairie hoisted bayonet-tipped muskets to help win British outposts in Illinois Country. They helped win the very independence that created our nation. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/QA0VUBzp0c
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 9, 2018
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In 1832, a young captain named Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War. That war secured Illinois for the US and saw the beginning of Rock Island Arsenal where, to this day, soldiers – military and civilian – work side by side to manufacture arms. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/zI2tw4YiL7
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 9, 2018
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The bloodiest, saddest war in American history was the war to free the slaves. Illinois was there with 260,000 soldiers in the Union army and the Illinois lady soldiers’ aid society providing clothing, supplies, and comfort at Camp Butler. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/o4AKk3PA2Q
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 9, 2018
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Illinoisans led the fight for emancipation. Lincoln was the commander-in-chief; Ulysses Grant was commanding general; and John “Black Jack” Logan, leader of the Illinois 31st at Corinth and Vicksburg, was major general of volunteers. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/uWDSe9b204
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 10, 2018
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Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment freeing slaves. 35,000 Illinois soldiers died for the cause. Sharpshooter Albert D. J. Cashier survived, never revealing Albert’s true identity: Jennie Hodgers. Women couldn’t vote but Albert did for years. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/3Rmtf2yRwj
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 10, 2018
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Lincoln signed the Emancipation. Grant became our 18th President. Logan would later issue the order that served as the basis for what became the national observance of Memorial Day. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/ZE4RMdzGOc
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 10, 2018
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Save for a strip of Lake Michigan shore, Illinois wouldn’t seem like a locale for seagoing soldiers. Yet the “The Quarterdeck of the Navy” has been at the Great Lakes Naval Station for 100+ years. 40,000 recruits train there each year. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/CYhdHt0zMe
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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When America entered World War I in 1917, the Illinois National Guard was there. 350,000 Illinoisans served in every battle for every branch of the military, including the fledgling Army Air Corps. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/bmxcBD2jkT
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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For almost as long as there has been a U.S. military air command, Illinois has been there for our soldiers of the air. Scott Air Force Base opened at the onset of WWI to train pilots for combat. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/8f9Az2tHSn
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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Today Scott Air Force Base is home to 5,500 active-duty Air Force serving the 375th Air Mobility Wing and two cybersecurity squadrons plus 2,400 Air National Guard and Reserve personnel. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/XYvbJIY8Hq
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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For World War II, Illinois troops, airmen, sailors by the tens of thousands helped defeat the Nazis in Europe and the Japanese in the Far East. 17,521 Illinois men and women fought to the death to preserve the world for democracy. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/IzM07EsxLX
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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Illinois soldiered on at home, too: planted 1.1M victory gardens, produced $85M worth of crops, exceeded war bond subscription quotas 8 times, and hundreds of thousands of Illinois women worked in factories to manufacture goods crucial to the war effort. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/55BRzBrICW
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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In the Quad Cities, more than 100 young Hispanic men and women from the same street in Silvis, Illinois went off to war. Today, it’s called “Hero Street” and it memorializes the eight neighbors who died in action – six in WWII and two more in Korea. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/STm2xS1zJs
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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Korea was another theater where Illinoisans rose to fight against the tyranny of communism. Near Lincoln’s tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery, you’ll find a monument with the names of 2,000 brave freedom fighters who paid the ultimate price. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/0dlksfNYfr
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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Barely a generation from a world conflict that cost a half million American lives, in the Spring of ’68 the 126th Supply and Service Company deployed in Chu Lai, Vietnam. By the time this war ended in ’72, nearly 3,000 Illinois families had lost a loved one in SE Asia. #OurHeroes pic.twitter.com/4QMZX1z8V9
— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) November 11, 2018
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Let’s just end it right there. Crediting Ronald Reagan with ending the Cold War and honoring the soldiers of the Global War on Terror – not the soldiers’ fault! – is a bit too propagandistic for me the way it’s presented.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on November 12, 2018